Remains believed to be Shannan Gilbert are found, police on Long Island say

Skeletal remains, believed to be Shannan Gilbert, the Jersey City woman who went missing 20 months ago, have been found in a Long Island marsh, Suffolk County authorities said today.

Authorities say Gilbert, 24, who they described as a prostitute, was visiting a client in Oak Beach on May 1, 2010 when she got scared and fled. At a news conference today, they said she went a half-mile into the muck, a quarter-mile northeast of where her belongings were found last week.

Authorities said they believe that she saw lights on the Robert Moses Causeway and tried to make her way to the lights. Gilbert's mother has said that Shannan could not swim.

"I think it's probably her," Alex Diaz, Gilbert's boyfriend, told The Star-Ledger today. "If it's not her, I don't know what to say. Now I know what I happened. I can move on now."

Diaz, speaking by phone, said he was heading home to read more about the remains and how they were found.

Mari Gilbert, Gilbert's mother, told Newsday that she is not convinced they found her daughter.

"I have no reaction until I get a positive ID from the medical examiner," she told the newspaper. "I just hope it is not" Shannan.

84-year old investigator searches for missing Jersey City prostitute Shannan GilbertThe last time Jersey City prostitute Shannan Gilbert was seen, she was fleeing a client's house in a gated Long Island community in the early morning hours of May 1, 2010. Since then authorities have discovered 10 sets of human remains in the area near Jones Beach, including those of at least four other prostitutes. But there has been no trace of Shannan. Recently private investigator Charlie Hannon took the case pro-bono, hoping to find clues in the Oak Beach neighborhood that would solve the mystery of Shannan Gilbert. Video by John Munson/The Star-Ledger

Upon hearing the news today, Dottie Laster, who helped search for Shannan Gilbert, said she felt angry.

"It's very hurtful and frustrating and makes me angry there's another body, no matter whose it is," Laster said. "My first thought is, it must stop. It has to stop escalating."

"The family is trying to be optimistic," she added. "I'm optimistic this will lead them closer and I'm happy they (the police) have been so transparent, and holding press conferences, so I'm optimistic."

The initial search for Gilbert, who went missing after a frantic 9-1-1 call in May 2010, resulted in the grisly discovery of remains of 10 other women, all believed to have been murdered by a serial killer.

Authorities have since said they believe a single serial killer is on the loose, but they believe Gilbert's death is accidental and unrelated to the others.